part0017

Over the past nine days, each set of goals you completed ramped up in intensity. Slowly but steadily you built the foundation of your novel, framed it with scenes, and finished it with a cohesive structure and cast. I can’t say I meant for any day along the way to be relaxing—creating a truly compelling story is no walk through the park, after all.

Today, on the other hand, is all about rest.

No, seriously! The final day of this ten-day challenge is all about taking a break from the intense journey you just completed. While we have one or two small tasks left to take care of, they’ll seem like nothing compared to the goals of previous days.

You see, if you’re anything like I am, you’ll be tempted to set strict goals as you sit down to write your first draft. After all, goals are how we make plans, and they discourage us from giving into the temptation of procrastination. Our goals give us a destination on the horizon, and that’s a big deal .

However, just like this ten-day challenge only technically took nine days to complete, all of your goals need some mercy built in. As a friend once warned me, if you have ten days to write, plan to write for nine. That way, when one day takes longer than expected, you have a backup there to help keep you on track.

Unfortunately, I’ll probably always be the person who sets extreme deadlines, but I don’t want you to make the same mistakes. Committing to writing a novel is a huge test in its own right, so you want to give yourself the time you need to succeed. While we do have a few final tasks before we wrap up this challenge, I hope today will linger in your mind as a reminder to give yourself some mercy days as you tackle your next challenge—writing your novel.

While the challenge you’ve just completed was all about outlining on the surface, in reality, these ten days have been about preparing yourself to begin the first draft of your novel. The Master Outline you created yesterday was by far the biggest part of that, but it’s not all you’ll need.

Whether you begin writing your novel tomorrow or months from now, you’ll need a supportive mental and physical environment for doing so, and the first step in creating that positive environment is having a workspace to call home.

If you’ve completed this challenge from your home office, at a well-worn desk, or in a comfy chair in your living room, you may think that’s all you need. Task complete, right? In reality, creating a supportive workspace is less about where you write and more about how you use the space you’re in .

No matter where you choose to write your first draft, you’ll want it to think about these things:

Much like I warned against creating your outline on your laptop if the Internet tends to distract you, you don’t want to write a novel at the kitchen table if you have six cats, four dogs, and a gaggle of tiny humans running around your legs. Wherever you work, make sure it’s somewhere you can concentrate, without too many distractions.

While noise is definitely distracting, being uncomfortable can be distracting in its own right. Finding a comfortable chair along with a desk or table that’s at the right height for you can make a huge difference in your writing, simply because you've improved your posture and overall comfort.

Wherever you choose to write, you’ll need easy access to the tools you like to use. Pens, pencils, paper, charging cables, books, sticky notes—no matter what your personal toolkit looks like, make sure you have everything you need set aside in your chosen workspace. This way you won’t need to break your flow to find a pencil sharpener or get a glass of water.

Your workspace should inspire you as much as possible. Try to find somewhere beautiful, or at least filled with things that make you feel happy and relaxed. Natural light, plants, color, and a good view can go a long way towards keeping your mind active and, most importantly, creative. Likewise, eliminate stressful clutter as best you can.

Of course, these four things are usually easier to fulfill when you have the same space to work in day after day, but they’re just as doable if you work in a variety of locations.

You may write in a noisy coffee shop, but a pair of noise canceling headphones can be a simple way to help you concentrate on the work at hand. Likewise, keeping necessary notebooks, pencils, pens, and computer chargers with you will prevent you from needing to leave your chosen workspace, or put your writing on hold until later.

Fortunately, writing in new and interesting locations can often be the best thing for your inspiration. Even though I’m a writing hermit and concentrate best when writing at my kitchen table, some days I just need a change of scenery. Seeing the world through a different lens can energize your mind when you need it the most.

So, regardless of your ideal workspace, take a few minutes to gather the materials you’ll need for writing. Clear the space of unnecessary distractions and set your tools out so they’re ready and waiting for you. If you plan to commute to your writing space, gather your supplies in a bag or backpack so they’re easy to carry with you.

With your workspace taken care of, it’s time to turn to the mental side of writing. I promised your collection from Day Two would come up again and, though it took quite a while, now is finally the time!

Before moving on, look through your original collection and pick out five to ten pieces to add to the end of your Master Outline. You can print out images and transcribe quotes or, if you’ve created your outline digitally, you can simply copy and paste them into the document. If you’d like to take this a step further, pick out a specific piece from your collection that represents the setting or tone of each plot point in your story and add it beneath those scenes in your Master Outline. Now, whenever you hit a roadblock, you can return to these bits of inspiration to get yourself back on track.

Of course, sometimes inspiration isn’t what you’ll need.

There will inevitably be a few times while writing your novel when you just want to give up, not because you don’t know what to create, but because it’s just gotten too hard. You have too much else to do, you’re tired, you’ve had a long week at work—whatever it may be, there will always be a reason not to write.

Ultimately, these reasons are completely valid. It’s up to you when the best time to write is, and there’s no shame in taking a day off. However, no matter how valid they are, many writers never become authors simply because these reasons overwhelm them. They may dream of one day finishing a novel, but when push comes to shove, too many other things get in the way.

Sometimes, there’s truly nothing you can do about this. There will be times when life demands your attention and when your novel has to wait for another day. Yet, just as often, what you may be missing is your Why:

If you’ve gotten this far, you clearly have a good reason for doing so, something beyond “I just want to write a book.” Perhaps you have an important story to tell, or maybe you want to leave something behind for the next generation. Maybe writing is therapy for you. There’s really no right or wrong here.

Whatever your Why is, make sure you find it before you sit down to write your first draft. Take some time to consider what makes writing meaningful to you and then write your answer down where you’ll always see it. Whether that’s a sticky note above your desk or a short sentence at the top of your first draft, keep it close to your heart so you never have to wonder “why am I doing this?”

You’ve accomplished a lot over the last ten days. Not only have you created a story from the ground up, but you’ve continued to stretch and strengthen it into something better and more expansive than you likely realized it could ever be. You’ve truly created the foundation of an excellent novel.

Now you stand at an important threshold. Whether you take the next step tomorrow or a year from now, all that’s left to do is write.

Yet, you may find yourself surprised that, as you write your first draft, your story will continue to evolve. Ultimately, no matter how thorough we’ve been, your story will always have imperfections. You’ll discover you’ve missed things, or you’ll find sparks of inspiration that become entirely new scenes and characters, changing your story in exciting ways. When the time comes to turn your draft into a finished work of fiction, you’ll still find yourself tweaking your story and editing things both large and small.

All of this is just as it should be. The process of creating a living world full of people, places, and events is one that is never truly over. In many ways, that’s the beauty of it—there’s always more to discover.

In the end, the true value of the outline you’ve created over the last ten days is that it gives you confidence. You’ll never have to doubt whether the foundation of this story you’re trying to create is strong. With the hardest decisions behind you, ahead is the simple process of putting pen to paper. The next time you sit down to write you’ll be starting your first draft, diving in to create the words and phrases that will eventually become your finished novel.